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Free Malaysia Today
2 days ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Asian markets rally ahead of latest China-US trade talks
The Hong Kong stock market rose more than 1%. (AP pic) HONG KONG : Stocks rallied today on hopes that a fresh round of China-US trade talks later in the day will ease tensions between the economic superpowers, while investors were also cheered by forecast-topping US jobs data. The gains extended a run-up across global markets in recent weeks as fears about Donald Trump's tariff blitz subsided and countries made deals with Washington. All eyes are on London, where top officials from China and the US are due to meet for more negotiations aimed at preserving a fragile truce agreed last month that slashed eye-watering tit-for-tat levies. The talks come days after Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping held their first publicly announced telephone talks since the US president returned to the White House. They were helped by news that Beijing had on Saturday approved some applications for rare-earth exports, while plane giant Boeing will start sending commercial jets to China for the first time since April. Optimism that the two sides will make a breakthrough boosted Asian markets, with Hong Kong up more than 1%, while Tokyo, Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei and Manila also advanced. The gains followed a strong lead from Wall Street, where all three main indexes closed more than 1% higher after figures showing the world's largest economy created a forecast-beating 139,000 jobs last month. While the figures for the previous two months were revised down, the data indicated that the economy remained robust, and tempered worries sparked by Wednesday's report by payroll firm ADP showing a big miss on private hiring. Eyes will now turn to the Federal Reserve (Fed) as it decides whether to lower interest rates, with many economists warning that Trump's tariffs could reignite inflation, hit supply chains and drag on consumer sentiment. 'The May minutes and recent comments by several (policy board) members… suggest the Fed is highly attentive to the risk that tariffs will lead to a persistent inflation shock,' wrote analysts at Bank of America. 'Those risks could come into focus for markets by the fall,' analysts said. Michael Hewson at MCH Market Insights remained positive for the outlook for the US economy. 'For now, the US economy continues to look reasonably resilient although the recent ADP jobs report showed some evidence of a slowdown in May,' he said in a commentary. 'However on the whole there is little sign that the economy is on the cusp of an economic shock at the moment, despite the unpredictable nature of the current US administration,.' Hewson added.
Bloomberg
27-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
US Stocks Rally as Trump Delays 50% Tariff on European Union
US equities rallied on Tuesday morning as trade tensions between the US and the European Union showed signs of cooling and as yields fell globally on hints Japan may be prepared to adjust debt issuance after a bond rout there. The S&P 500 Index rose 1.2% at 9:49 a.m. in New York, putting the benchmark on track to bounce back from last week's four-session losing streak. Meanwhile, the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index climbed 1.4%. At least some of the risk-on mood emerged after President Donald Trump extended a deadline on tariffs on the EU until July 9.
Zawya
14-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
European shares steady, dollar softens on tariff truce, muted inflation
European stocks were steady on Wednesday as markets took a breather after a strong rally on easing global trade tensions, while the dollar extended losses from the day before as benign U.S. inflation data kept Federal Reserve rate cuts on the table. Stocks climbed overnight in Asia while U.S. stock futures were inching higher after the S&P 500 moved into positive territory for the year on Tuesday. As a truce in the tariff spat between China and the United States appeared to hit pause in the global trade war, investors have pushed global equities higher, although European shares were on pause on Wednesday. "It's all about the change in risk appetite," said Lars Skovgaard, senior investment strategist at Danske Bank. "I have a hard time seeing that we'll go back to this extreme political noise," he added. Europe's STOXX 600 was last little changed on the day, taking a breather after its recent rally, having jumped over 17% since its trough on April 9, the day U.S. President Donald Trump announced he would be pausing most of the reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trading partners. Equity futures pointed to a modestly higher start on Wall Street. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.6%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 dipped 0.1%, while the broader Topix snapped a 13-day winning run, its longest streak in nearly 16 years. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 2.3%, lifted by tech stocks after Chinese e-commerce retailer posted strong results. Tencent, China's biggest tech company, posted a 13% rise in first quarter revenue on Wednesday. Focus this week will also be on earnings from Alibaba on Thursday. Data on Tuesday showing softer-than-expected U.S. consumer inflation also provided some relief to investors worried about the inflationary impact of U.S. tariff policies, which had severely undercut expectations of near term Fed rate cuts. Though traders expect inflation to pick up as tariffs lift import costs, the uncertainty over the outlook remains as Washington moves ahead to strike deals with its trading partners. "U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods are still much higher than they were months ago," said Wei He, China economist at Gavekal Research. "There's still plenty of uncertainty about the outlook." Trump in an interview on Tuesday said he could see himself dealing directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping on details of a trade pact. His touted "potential deals" with India, Japan and South Korea are still pending. ASSESSING TARIFF IMPACT The Fed has warned of rising economic uncertainty, signalling it is prepared to wait to assess the impact of U.S. tariffs before moving to cut interest rates again. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to give remarks on Thursday. The U.S. dollar, which has taken a beating recently on the back of the economic and policy uncertainty, dropped 1% against the yen to 146.05, and was down 0.3% against the euro. The dollar index slipped 0.4%, adding to a 0.8% slide in the previous session. Global asset managers held their biggest underweight position in the dollar in 19 years in May, as Trump's trade policy cut investor appetite for U.S. assets, Bank of America's global fund manager survey (FMS) showed on Tuesday. With the U.S. inflation figures out, the next major signal for U.S. economic health is retail sales data for April due on Thursday. The same day, talks are planned between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul with hopes of a ceasefire three years into the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two. In commodities, U.S. crude dipped 1.3% to $62.84 a barrel, retreating from a two-week high hit in the previous session. Spot gold fell 0.3% to $3,237 per ounce as easing trade tensions weakened its safe-haven appeal.
